Aspects of this disclosure relate to wireless communications systems. In particular, aspects of this disclosure relate to offloading network infrastructure communication to peer-to-peer (P2P) communication between endpoints in a server-mediated manner.
Wireless communication systems have developed through various generations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service (1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks) and third-generation (3G) and fourth-generation (4G) high speed data/Internet-capable wireless services. There are presently many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including Cellular and Personal Communications Service (PCS) systems. Exemplary cellular systems include the cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile access (GSM) variation of TDMA, and newer hybrid digital communication systems using both TDMA and CDMA technologies. More recently, Long Term Evolution (LTE) has been developed as a wireless communications protocol for mobile phones and other terminals to communicate data at high speeds. LTE is based on GSM, and includes contributions from various GSM-related protocols such as Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocols such as High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA).
Accordingly, communications systems and devices are becoming increasingly diverse with new technological advancements. Communications devices are now able to support various different communications technologies and protocols. Indeed, not only can various communications devices operate in a communications system (e.g., over a network infrastructure), many communications device may communicate with one another using direct peer-to-peer (P2P) communications and/or using infrastructure elements where devices communicate through signals communicated via one or more base stations, access points, or other network infrastructure entities. For example, communications devices that support the Wi-Fi Direct standard or Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) standard may connect to each other via direct P2P connections. Furthermore, the LTE Direct (LTE-D) standard uses licensed spectrum and the LTE physical layer to provide a scalable and universal framework through which equipped communications devices can discover and connect to proximate peers and thereby establish direct P2P connections within ranges up to one mile. Wi-Fi direct tends to require the devices to be in closer proximity (approximately 200 meters) and BTLE even closer proximity (approximately 30 feet).
LTE-D operates on licensed spectrum as a service to mobile applications. LTE-D enables service layer discovery. Mobile applications on LTE-D devices can instruct LTE-D to set a monitor for mobile application services on other devices. Moreover, mobile applications on LTE-D devices can announce their own services for detection by other LTE-D devices at the physical layer. The applications can be closed while LTE-D works continuously, and notifies the client application when it detects a match to the set monitor.
LTE-D is thus an attractive alternative to mobile developers seeking to deploy proximate discovery solutions as extensions of their existing cloud services. LTE-D is a distributed discovery solution (versus the centralized discovery that exists today), whereby mobile applications forego centralized database processing in identifying relevancy matches, instead autonomously determining relevance at the device level by transmitting and monitoring for relevant attributes. LTE-D offers certain benefits in terms of privacy as well as power consumption, in that LTE-D does not utilize perpetual location tracking to determine proximity. By keeping discovery on the device rather than in the cloud, the user has more control of what information is shared with external devices.
As noted above, one or more intermediate base stations, access points, or other infrastructure elements typically facilitate communication between two or more wireless devices or other endpoints over a network infrastructure (e.g., through uplink and downlink channels between the endpoints and the infrastructure elements). However, at times, the loading conditions on the infrastructure elements (e.g., at a base station serving one or more wireless devices), may become excessive and thereby degrade communications quality. Furthermore, in certain cases, direct P2P communication may be faster, more efficient, more private, or otherwise advantageous to end users. Accordingly, in view of the above discussion, it should be appreciated that a need exists for systems that can determine appropriate conditions where traffic between two or more wireless devices seeking to communicate can be offloaded from a network infrastructure to direct P2P communications.